I took a time out in the shop this morning to make some new light brackets. The only thing better than caffeine in the morning is jumping out of bed and making an idea into reality with your hands, at least for me. The idea of chain ring light brackets is not new, a little google-fu will get you some results like this:
Working from this as a starting point, I went through my piles of old chain rings and decided that the diameter of chain rings in the mid to high 20’s best matched the shape of the headlight. After a bit of cutting, filing, and polishing this is what I came up with:
I am pretty happy with the way they came out. Both lights will be mounting to a Nitto Mark’s rack, in different ways, so I made two different length brackets.
Backing up a bit for those not familiar with these types of lighting systems, one is likely to ask why even make a bracket? Why not just mount it upside down? The lights are made with a fairly advanced optic that focuses the light in a rectangular beam with a cutoff that keeps the light on the road and out of the eyes of oncoming traffic. The optic housing interface is further designed to be most water-resistant in the upright orientation. This all works out fine for 90% of the intended audience who mount these lights to the fork crown of an average city bike. The challenge starts with the crown mount location when you use a front bag or basket. The lights beam is obstructed in the competition for real estate. So a bracket needs to be used to move the light under the rack and forward so that the light is not blocked by the front wheel or hanging out in a spot where it can be easily damaged. Surprisingly there is not much on the market to solve this problem.
I am waiting for some additional hardware to be delivered so I can keep this project moving. Later in the week I should have this much further along.
Thanks to the marvels of intentional shipping and internet friends it has been a fun week in the receiving department here at OAC. With the days starting to get shorter the talk about lighting systems is starting to heat up. I was able to buy a built up dynamo from one Rambler early adopter to build up a lighting system for another.
For those who not familiar with the current state of the art, dynamo systems have a generator built into the front hub that can be directly wired to your lights so that you never have to worry about batteries. Just ride and the light are there. The resistance is barely perceptible, nothing at all like the generator you had rubbing on the tire of your old Schwinn. With new LED technology the light output is astonishing as well, combined with high quality German optics that keep the light on the road, it can totally transform you riding experience after dark.
The Rambler frame sets are designed with the use of these systems in mind, and have wire management systems in place to keep everything clean and well protected. In the coming week I will have some detailed posts showing how I will be setting this up, as well as highlighting the Rambler specific features.
Lately I have been getting more interest in the various bags I have on my Rambler. The 5 bag set up I have been running in most of the pictures is a mash-up of self-made and store-bought bags that have built up over the last five years. Some are on the bike every day, while others, the panniers, are only there for the more voluminous loads. I have a few new designs I am getting ready to sew up, and before the switch I thought it would be a good time to share my thoughts on each of the bags.
Up front I have been using an Acorn brand handle bar bag for a few years now. These bags are hand-made by a husband and wife team in Los Angeles, and are an incredible value if you can get your hands on one.
This bag holds all of my essentials: spare tube, patch kit, pump (Lezyne micro floor drive) multi tool, maps, energy bar for an emergency bonk and plenty of room left over for my Micro 4/3 camera kit or a lunch and jacket etc. The bag is made with un-waxed canvas, and has proven water tight through a few rainy seasons now. You will also not my “FrontFlector” No.1. I have a couple of different versions, all working as hoped. While not a headlight replacement, I have found it quite effective in getting driver’s attention. There is over a full 20 square inches of 3m reflective tape, it can easily be retro fit to most traditional front bags, and is integral with the front pocket. I will be offering these as part of the line over this winter.
The frame bag I run all the time is the first one I have ever made. It came out well enough in spite of my early sewing skills and has help up far better than I expected.
Click on the Pic to see the bag specs
Some of the design aspects were meant to be a trial, assuming I would need to replace or repair in time. It is going on two years at this point, and nothing has needed anything other than use. I carry my pole mounted GoPro camera in it on most rides, and often use it to carry a dozen eggs. On longer rides it holds a 2l platypus bladder, and in the winter it holds my extra layers and the come on and off throughout the ride. Like the Acorn bags, I chose the un-waxed canvas, and it had proven water tight through two winters.
On the rear I have my self-made saddle bag.
Click on the Pic to see the bag specs
I originally made this bag to increase the rear loading capacity of my Rivendell Roadeo, a sport bike, that was not intended to carry panniers, but has a geometry biased towards rear load. It has just a bit more room than a Carradice Nelson long flap. Made with the same un-waxed canvas, it has yet to let me down in a California rain storm. As of late it mostly holds up the reflector, and the occasional bulky package.
It also, like my front bag, has a self-made reflector. Starting with the basic premise of the reflective triangles made for runners, I upped the reflective surface area. Most triangles have a mesh center, but if you are strapping it to you bike or bag, a breathable center is a waste of real estate IMO. It may look a bit dorky, but after thousands of miles at the margins of the day, it gets results. Hands down cars give me a wider passing space when it is on there, and I do not leave home without it on the bike.
For the loads with a bit more volume I have a set of the Jandd Mini MTN panniers, that I modified with a set of Arkel mounting hooks. These have been with me for well over 5 years now and have proven quite versatile.
They are a mass-produced bag, made with Cordura Nylon. They are fairly water-resistant, but have had leakage in heavy rain. The width of the bottom half is expandable for the really big loads. I have used these for everything from touring, to groceries and commuting. They will swallow a gallon of mill, 2 quarts of yogurt and have tons of room the softer packages. While labeled mini, these have a surprising amount of capacity and are rated at 2000 ci for the pair.
I am pretty happy with all these bags. If it were not for the constant need to tinker, the tools and ability to make exactly what I want, and it being part of the business, I would probably push these bags for a decade or more. So what is next? I am planning on making a 5 bag set with Dimension Polyant’s XPAC laminate material. This is a composite 3 layer laminate of cordura, mylar, and pack cloth with rip stop fibers. The weight is a fraction of the canvas, and it will be waterproof. Canvas is great, but my three every day bags tip the scales at around 7 lbs empty, that is significant IMO. I will still have a set of canvas bags in the works, bit materials have pros and cons, and I need to work it out with some test bags.
The rambler is designed to handle modest front loads, and I want to up the size on the handlebar bag. This will reduce my tendency to fall back on the panniers when I need just that little bit more space. The design will be rooted in a traditional Berthoud style bag, but with modern materials and a couple of twists.
The frame bag will be similar in design to my current bag, but with a couple of improvements and the use of XPAC as the main material.
The saddle bag will shrink a bit, have a different closure system, and shape.
Fourth on the lest is a set of roll top panniers. Everything I can find on the market, short of the Berthoud mini, is still a bit big for most of what I need. I am leaning towards a roll top design for water tightness and a bit of flexibility in volume. I will use Arkel hooks until I can find something lighter that is as easy to get on and off, yet incredibly secure.
Time to move the designs from paper to pattern, cut some cloth and get sewing.
As part of the OAC Rambler program I have been installing a bunch of components and accessories to make sure they fit. The good news is that just about everything has fit as planned. Some things go on easier than others, and often stay on the bike longer.
The White Industries VBC double crank set is one of those shining stars. The crank set is machined here in California, completely, arms, rings and bottom bracket. The most unique feature being the proprietary outer ring. It mates directly to the crank arm, and has 5 radial slots in lieu of the traditional bolt circle pattern. The in turn removes many of the tooth count constraints imposed by bolt circle diameters. I have ours set up as a wide range double, 48 tooth outer ring and 28 tooth inner.
95% of my riding is on the larger ring, and I only shift down to the inner ring when the road starts to point up sharply. The biggest gain is simplified shifting, fringe benefit is dropping a little weight compared to a triple ring set up
I have pushed various vintage cranks into similar chain ring combinations, some intended, some with a bit of creativity. I appreciate that the WI crank set is purpose built to this design. Everything goes together perfectly, as it should. One thing that is hard to explain is the feel of some components going together. This “feeling” can only come from installing and removing lots of components, at a wide range of price points. The bottom bracket and crank set went on silky smooth. Everything threaded on easily, comes up to torque spec easily and has stayed there for months. This can not be said for some of the more affordable offerings on the market. While the price is a bit steeper than some, these are a solid example of getting what you paid for, and will likely outlive the bike you first put them on.
Performance on the road has been great. Shifting has been smooth, and after some fine tuning of the front derailer there have been no dropped chains. If you are thinking of going this route, I would recommend the FSA compact double front derailer. It works well with compact or wide doubles due to the flat outer cage and being radiused to a 48 tooth ring. Other derailers will work, but set up may be a bit finicky.
I will be adding these to the web store as a special order item in the next week. Keep your eyes peeled if you have been thinking about migrating from a triple to this set up. The initial offering will be at a price that is hard to beat, particularly when combined with the coupon code for news letter subscribers.
I have been using the Paul Tall and Handsome seatpost for a couple of months now. It has done everything you would want from a seat post and a little more.
The biggest differentiation is the setback, a full 26mm, but it gets better. The two bolt vintage campy style upper clamps allow you to get yet another mm or two of setback. For those who dream of getting the brooks back just a little further this could be the ticket.
The two bolt set up is extremely secure Tilt adjustment is a cinch to manage by loosening one bolt, tightening the other. Likewise, 1 turn of each bolt and you can slide the saddle forward and back, tighten both up evenly and your tilt is preserved.
I have been happy with my Berthoud saddle for a couple of years now, but things got even better with it just that little bit further back. My sit bones hit further ahead of the cantle plate (rear saddle support). Hard to believe such a subtle difference could yield such big results.
The one great irony is that I am using a 360mm post with about 50mm exposed. I had to cut the post for the 51 Rambler so that it did not interfere with the bottle bosses. For now I will live with it, but will likely cut mine short in the future, not that I am a weight weenie, but it does shave close to 100g.
I can get these on a special order basis at the moment. As Ramblers start to roll though I will be adding them to the regular stock. Maybe Paul will do a run of Sort and Handsomes if I ask.
